Getting the most out of Bend, Oregon

Tetherow’s 3rd annual Brewery Smackdown, Wednesday, Jan. 31

On Wednesday, January 31, Tetherow Resort‘s Brewery Smackdown series of beer and food pairing events returns for its third year. Not only food and beer pairing, but a people’s choise-style competition where two breweries from Portland, Ecliptic Brewing and Ancestry Brewing, square off against the reigning champions, Crux Fermentation Project and Silver Moon Brewing, in a five course blind tasting of beers.

Here is the press release which includes the menu:

At the end of January, Central Oregon’s premier resort, Tetherow, will host its third annual Brewery Smackdown, where Portland breweries will challenge Bend’s finest to an ultimate pairing competition.

The Jan. 31 event is the first in a series of beer showdowns at Tetherow. The inaugural Brewery Smackdown will take place from 5:30 p.m. through 10 p.m. at the Tetherow Event Pavilion. It will pit reigning Central Oregon champions Crux Fermentation Project and Silvermoon against the Rose City’s Ancestry Brewing and Ecliptic Brewing.

Prior to the Brewery Smackdown, Tetherow chefs meet with brewers to sample the menu and select which beer pair best with each dish. Over the course of five rounds, it’s up to guests, brewers and distributors to crown a winner. Each guest receives a dish prepared by Tetherow’s culinary team and two blind beer tasters. After each course, they select the beer that paired best with the dish.

The winners of the Jan. 31 Brewery Battles will go head to head against a new set of breweries at the next event in late March.

Learn more about the lineup and events here. Tickets are $69 per person and can be purchased at eventbrite.com.

No idea what the beers are yet, but for a blind tasting we probably shouldn’t know ahead of time anyway. This should be a fun event, and it’s going to be a long night—from 5:30 to 10pm. Be sure to get your tickets soon if you’re planning to attend, these events have sold out quickly in past years.